I’d like to have it automated so my night mode is automated. Does anyone have any automation that they do to activate night mode that they can share please?
Ideally it would be some form of automation that knows when everyone is in bed, so that things downstairs can be turned off.
I’m sure someone will have a more automated answer then I’m about to give, but I just was working this very issue this weekend. And this was my solution:
I was already using an Alexa Routine for Goodnight. “Alexa, Goodnight” would lock the doors, turn off the downstairs lights and set the house alarm for “Arm Stay”.
A made a virtual switch with Alexa Helper named Nighttime. Then I made an ST Routine called Night that would set the ST Mode to Night when that switch was activated
Next I added my virtual switch to the list of switches that Alexa turns on when the “Goodnight” routine is run. However, Alexa has issues for some reason accessing virtual switches in an Alexa Routine. But she is able to activate an Alexa Group, so I made an Alexa Group called Bedtime, added the Nighttime virtual switch and added that Group to the Alexa Goodnight Routine.
Lastly I made a Good Morning ST routine that runs at sunrise to set the ST Mode to Home.
May sound like a lot of work, but I’m still learning what all ST can do and the best way to learn is play with it.
Michael
Within the Goodnight Routine(and all routines) there is an option to change mode. The virtual button isn’t necessary.
One way is within the ST app for Night Mode you can set the automation for “When things quiet down” which essentially means when (typically) there’s no motion across multiple sensors. So you could setup several motion sensors in the downstairs area and when none of them report any motion for a period of time, then automatically turn to “Night Mode” and turn things off. You could use WebCore to the same effect as well.
I’ve only played with a little as my house is only 1 story and people are up all through the night so it’s not really possible for me to automate “night mode”.
But I wanted Alexa to handle it for me. 
Then create a routine to turn off everything you want turned off and tie that to Alexa so when you say “Alexa, Goodnight” it will activate that routine.
Your can expose your ST routines to Alexa and then in the Good night (Alexa routine) you can activate the Goodnight ST routine…which would automatically set the mode to night.
You no longer need to use a virtual switch to activate ST routines. They updated the integration a while back.
And if I had the ST from the beginning, I might have done it that way, but I started with Alexa and mostly Iris, and just recently moved the last of my devices over.
I never said it was the best way. Just the way I solved it. And more importantly, I learned more about both Alexa and ST along the way.
That said, I do appreciate the insight as to different ways to get it done.
I have my goodnight routine to start after 45 minutes of no motion downstairs after 10PM. I also have my corresponding
morning routine to trigger after Motion at 5AM All my devices trigger the way I want through the routines.
My night mode is called “sleep mode”. Sleep mode ensures my Abode alarm is activated, my thermostats are set properly, doors are locked and lights are turned off.
It triggers when I turn off my bedroom tv which is a Harmony Activity that triggers a virtual switch. I have a WebCore piston that basically looks for when that switch is turned off and then fires my Sleep mode.
It works out well. They key to automation is to build it around habits. My specific habit is watching tv before I go to sleep and turning it off when I am ready to sleep. This will work for now, but as my kids become teenagers and come home later, that will change.
That’s my concern with all of this, it’s trying to arrange some logic around habits, but habits don’t always happen
If you don’t have a specific habit that is repeatedly done each day, the next best thing would be a quick way to fire the mode such as an Alexa routine, Harmoy Button or Widget on your phone. One button or command.
I have two separate translations that take place to execute good night mode.
First, my exterior lighting is set to on at Sunset, regardless of mode. Then exterior lighting is set to dim at 11:30pm, as long as my mode is not ‘Away’. Then if this is the case, I have the lights programmed to go into dim mode after my foyer has no motion for 20 minutes once I’m in night mode.
Second, I use the good night routine to set A/C, alarm mode and lighting based on two criteria. The first is that there is no activity in any living/family area motion sensor for more than 40 minutes after 10:30 pm. The second criteria takes effect at 2 AM regardless of motion.
Why 40 minutes? Because if we are on the sofa watching tv late at night, we typically won’t be more than 30 minutes or so without getting up to do something or go to bed.
So, if we fall asleep before 10:30, everything is automated at 11:10 pm. If were up and then go to bed after 10:30, the house will be automated 40 minutes after we retire for the night. Finally, the house shuts down at 2pm. We are almost never up at this time doing anything that needs 100 watts of lighting.
If the house transitions to night mode and we are still moving around, my motion sensors will l set my night lighting mode.
Tools used are lighting scenes, native routines and the SmartLight app. No custom programing or WebCore needed for this - pretty basic stuff, you just have to drill through the menus to find it.
Quick question. What exactly is Night Mode ?
In my house we move around alot so I am thinking i want it just to be the door sensors and NOT the motion sensors. Though the garage motion sensor might be ok to turn on.
We have Lutron lights over our bed and in our bedroom and those are all connected to ST. So ideally it would automatically trigger to NIGHT MODE when those lights are OFF and its past Midnight and we are home. that would be a rule I am going to try and write.
